Don't Open Pandora's Bag
by selanc
Summary: Two months after the series finale, everything starts to come to light. Shannon's about to have a bad day; Lawson's going to have one too; Josh is still pissed off and not being subtle; and everyone else gets thrown into the mix.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Don't Open Pandora's Bag

**Rating:** T / Australian M.

**Warnings/Spoilers:** Will deal with Shannon's assault. There will be swearing. If you're good with the show, you should be fine with this. Spoilers for the entire series.

**Summary: **Two months after the series finale, everything starts to come to light. Shannon's about to have a shit day; Lawson's going to have one too; Josh is still pissed off and not being subtle; and everyone else gets thrown into the mix.

**A/N: **Show is not mine.

This is un-betaed though I have been fretting over it for months. It will be mostly focused on Shannon's assault, but will feature everyone and some plot. I'm trying to keep relatively close to canon, therefore Shannon/Lawson will be fairly prominent. (Also: I am sympathetic to all the characters, so please don't assume the worst of anyone. *g*)

I will be attempting at least weekly updates, though this may vary as we get further into the fic, my chapters become less ahead, I get picky, and uni tries to take over my life. Reviews are always appreciated, whether purely squee or constructive.

**Don't Open Pandora's Bag**

Shannon Henry woke. With a start, she pushed herself up off her pillow and gazed blearily around the bedroom. She could just make out the shape of her wardrobe and drawers as the first few streaks of morning light crept in through the window. She glanced at her alarm clock. Five thirty-three. They had the later shift today and there were still three hours before her alarm was due to go off.

She frowned, wondering what had woken her, but then the banging on the door started again and she knew she had her answer. She dropped back face-first into the pillow, bunching the corners between her fists.

She was going to kill whoever had stolen her sleep.

The knocking continued and she pushed herself up again and rolled out of bed with a growl. Her feet landed softly on the carpeted ground and she rubbed her eyes as she stumbled out of her room and down the stairs, continuing to declare death on the person at her door.

"I swear to God, Stella, if this is because you left your keys at home _again_, I'll-"

She yanked open the door blinds to come face to face with Josh's forehead pressed against the window, eyes wide and staring innocently at her.

"-What the _hell,_ Josh?"

Josh frowned seriously and knocked on the door a few more times. "Hey, Shannon," he said loudly, though he'd clearly been aiming for 'whisper'. "Can I come in?"

She just stared at him for a few moments. He stared back before reaching out and softly knocking again.

With a rough sigh, she opened the wooden door and pulled him inside, a whiff of stale alcohol entering her nose as he stumbled past her and into the lounge room. She closed the door behind him, taking a few moments to catch her breath and to try to settle herself because she was fairly certain killing a Senior Sergeant would not look pretty on her CV.

Then the sound of the kitchen tap turning on reached her ears, closely followed by a glass smashing on the floor.

Fuck it. She wouldn't have a career anyway if she died from lack of sleep.

She strode into the kitchen to see Josh kneeling on the floor, futilely attempting to gather shards of a brown mug into his hand. She closed her eyes briefly, before pulling out the dust pan and brush from beneath the sink and pushing Josh out of the kitchen. She quickly cleaned up his mess, dumping the glass in the bin and chucking the pan and brush back beside it before shutting the cupboard doors.

She stood back up, moving out of the kitchen, and turned to find Josh sitting slouched on the couch arm, watching her. Soft eyes, relaxed. His hands were resting between his legs, a half-smile on his face. "I like your shorts," he offered, gesturing at them.

Glancing down at the short navy stubbies that left little to the imagination – although, Josh didn't really have to imagine, did he – she rolled her eyes and ran a hand roughly through her hair. Ever the charmer. "Why the bloody hell are you here, Josh? I was _sleeping_."

He rubbed a hand over his mouth. "I was thinking…" he started, that strange little half-smile still perched upon his lips. He stood up from the couch and took a few calm steps towards her.

"Bad sign," she said warily, swallowing as he continued towards her. He only stopped when there was less than a foot between them.

"Not always," he said softly, looking down at her. He lifted a hand towards her hair, fingers carefully bending as though he were a little boy reaching to capture a butterfly.

"Oh, tonight I think it is." She took a step backwards, flinching slightly as her lower back hit the kitchen bench. Her breath quickened as he stepped closer. "Josh-"

"Shhh," he murmured, placing his right index finger against her lips. She froze at the gesture. Taking this for permission, Josh slowly lowered his head and gently pressed a kiss into her bare shoulder, the warmth brushing the spot between her thin white singlet strap and her neck.

"Josh, I-" She tried to move away but the kitchen bench kicked into her back again. Josh moved upwards, kissing her neck this time, and she braced her hands against his chest. "Josh, don't."

He continued to trace kisses up her neck, lowering his hands to rest on her hips. Shannon's breath rate was increasingly rapidly. This was too familiar; this was _not_ what she wanted. "Josh, get off."

He paused for a moment, his hands still on her hips, fingers lightly digging into skin where her top had ridden up. A frown quickly crossed his face. "Shan, I-"

She'd had more than enough. "_Get off_," she yelled and shoved at him. Josh's head shot up at her tone and he stepped back quickly, watching her with wide-eyed concern.

She could feel the panic rising, her rapidly beating heart jumping into her throat along with it, and closed her eyes, trying to control it and her shallow breathing. Deep breaths, slow breaths, come on, come on. _Don't go back there. _She swallowed fervently, trying to get past the block in her throat.

It took a few moments, but finally she could feel the air pull deeper into her lungs, allowing her to almost think again. She opened her eyes and stared at the floor, both hands clammy yet tightly gripping the bench behind her.

"Shan-" Josh began, but she shook her head sharply, interrupting him, and he stopped. She didn't – couldn't – look at him.

"Shannon, I'm-" he tried again.

"Go have a shower," she ordered, still refusing to look at him.

"I-" This time he cut himself off. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he dropped his hands and they dangled helplessly.

"_Go_."

There was silence for a moment, before he sighed and shuffled past her, heading to the stairs. She listened to his footfalls as he made his way up the stairs and then into the bathroom, the door closing firmly behind him.

Then, as the water started, she slowly, unsteadily, sank to the floor, leaning her head back against the bench wall. She closed her eyes again and continued to focus on trying to calm her shaking body.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, the water shut off, and a few minutes after that, Shannon heard the bathroom door open. She stared for a few more moments out at the river, before standing up from the couch. As she listened to Josh clomp down the stairs, she moved to the kitchen cupboard, opening it and pulling out two glasses. She flicked the tap on and filled them as Josh rounded the corner.<p>

He'd put on the clean clothes she'd gotten out, and now had the bottom of the black The Herd t-shirt stretched between his hands. He stared at it, frowning. "Hey, is this my shirt?" he asked, squinting at it.

Shannon smirked as she took a sip from her glass. "Probably. It _was_ at the very bottom of my wardrobe."

His frown deepened at the remark – whether from the perceived insult to the band or him, she wasn't sure – but he let the shirt go, moving to the opposite side of the bench. "And the shorts? They don't look like mine."

She raised her eyebrows over her glass and swallowed the water, while mockingly widening her eyes. "Well, that's because they're Lawson's."

He stared at her for a few moments, then shrugged. "Well, if he gets to wear my girlfriend, s'pose it's fair I get to wear his shorts." Shannon tensed at the comment, her shoulders rising, and she pressed her lips tightly together. Josh threw a half-smile at her, which promptly faded as he took in the expression on her face. He sighed, running his left hand through his hair to flick the water out, then placed it on the kitchen bench, resting his weight against it. He glanced down, noticing the glass. "That for me?"

Shannon waved her hand forward in the universal sign for 'Go ahead' and watched as he grabbed the glass, quickly sculling the water and placing it back down. When he looked up again, his eyes had softened and his mouth was clamped firmly shut. There was silence for a bit, then Josh exhaled, a harsh stream of air escaping his lips. "How'd you forgive him, Shan?" he finally asked, twisting the glass around on the bench.

She opened her mouth and took a quick breath, before letting it go when she realised she didn't know what to say. What could she say? She'd chosen to and that was… that was it. So she shrugged before crossing her arms, leaning back against the fridge and raising her glass. She took another drink.

"No, seriously. My best mate fucked my girlfriend. Where do you even start?"

"Hey, at least they thought you were dead." She threw a taut smile at him, before glancing back into her now-empty glass. Shit, that was a bit more obvious than she'd meant to be.

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Bitter."

"Maybe a little."

They stared at each other for a few moments, before Josh sighed. "So?"

For Christ's sake. "Well, I hear a round of fisticuffs helps."

Josh just looked at her, frowning, the irritation all but written across his face. Yeah, well, she was irritated too. "Shannon."

She threw out her arms in exasperation as she shifted from the fridge and shoved her glass onto the sink. "I don't know what you want me to say, Josh," she said as she turned the tap back on and roughly rinsed the glass with hot water. "He thought you were dead. I wasn't really up for supportive girlfriend of the month-"

"He said you needed space."

She looked up and gazed at him, before shaking her head and grabbing his glass. "Oh, told you that, did he." It shouldn't have surprised her – it didn't, really – but somehow it still managed to shit her off.

"He was worried," Josh said, as he straightened back up and watched as she brusquely dried the glasses and put them back in the cupboard, slamming the doors shut. "We all were, you know."

"Uh huh." She stood for a moment and stared at the doors before turning back around and half-crossing her arms. She rested her chin in her right hand, fingers curled over pursed lips, and sighed, trying to figure out just how to phrase it. She shook her head and rubbed her face briefly with both hands, before holding them out to him, palms up, as though showing him that this was all she had. "Look, Josh. I forgave him. We're still dealing with it, but I chose to. It's up to you whether you're going to or not. Okay?"

He gazed steadily at her, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay. Then get on the couch and I'll get you a pillow. It's too bloody early for this shit." She spun around and left the room, leaving him to decide whether he was going to listen or not.

When she was returned, he was sitting on the couch, staring contemplatively at the coffee table. She dropped the pillow and a faded floral sheet beside him and turned around to leave. He caught her wrist as she turned and she paused. "Shan…" he started, then trailed off.

She kept looking towards the steps and waited. He pulled the shit; he had to make the move. He rubbed her wrist gently and she sighed, but turned back to face him. He looked up at her, eyes earnest.

"I'm sorry about that stuff before. I was drunk; I don't know what I-"

What a load of- "Bullshit. You do. You wanted to get your own back."

His mouth dropped open slightly but then he closed it and his eyes and grimaced. "Yeah, you're right. You're right. Doesn't mean I'm not sorry."

She nodded briefly and gave him a short tight smile. "You're buying brekky."

He nodded back. "Deal."

"I'll wake you in the morn- well, in a bit." And with that, she pulled out of his grasp and rubbed her neck, before turning and padding up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Lawson Blake looked down at his watch and started tapping his foot. For Christ's sake, a turtle could move faster than this. His <em>Nana<em> could have moved faster than this, and she spent the last ten years of her life with a walker, going half the speed of a turtle while being three times as drunk. He glanced down to his left. "Seriously, Charlie, do I have to be here for this?"

Charlie looked up from where he was kneeling, poking through the bottom of Christian's locker, and rested his left arm on his raised leg. "You know locker searches need two people so that they have a witness."

Lawson crossed his arms and leant against the wall. Regs, yeah, he knew; he hadn't got to Senior Sergeant just by being pretty. "Yeah, but why not you and Kerry?"

"'Cause Kerry's the superintendant. And the superintendant expressly told _me_ to do it and to keep it away from her cos 'the shit jobs are what my minions are for, yeah?'." Lawson raised his eyebrows, almost disbelievingly, as he watched Charlie _actually do_ the little air quotation marks. "And since you're next in line, which I guess makes you _my_ minion, you know what that means?"

Lawson rolled his eyes, and mockingly raised his hand to the thinker's pose on his chin, cocking his head thoughtfully. "Shit job time, Sir Minion Leader?"

"Shit job time," Charlie repeated affirmatively. He stood up and dusted his hands. "Next!"

At his words, Stella and Christian staggered into the locker room laughing. Both stopped when they noticed their bosses, Christian's eyes widening dramatically at his open locker.

"Oi, you're here early," Lawson said, frowning in slight bemusement at the two of them. Neither of them were frequently late but Stella, especially, was not known for her early arrivals.

"Yep," Stella nodded lazily as Christian slowly moved towards his locker.

"My ordering system!" he cried, hands clasped to the side of his head in horror. "You messed up my ordering system!"

Charlie's forehead furrowed and he looked confusedly at Lawson. He was pretty sure Christian was one of the least ordered people he'd ever worked with. "Joke," Lawson mouthed silently back.

Stella stared dejectedly at them. "Seriously? Locker inspections?"

Lawson sighed, and crossed his arms again, leaning back against the wall. He shrugged – he didn't entirely disagree with her; albeit, mostly because it was a job he'd been stuck with as the sidekick. Charlie sent him a cautionary look but nodded at Stella. "Mandated from on high, Stella, you know that. There was warning."

Stella shook her head as she moved to her own locker and opened it, glancing over the contents. She pulled out her joggers and sniffed them before shrugging. "Dunno why. They're not going to catch anyone."

Charlie grinned. He put his hands on his hips, tapping lightly on the right one, and rocked back on his heels. "That so."

Stella swung around to face him, raising her arms suddenly and gesturing with her shoes. "Seriously! Anyone dumb enough to keep their shit in a cop station – _especially_ after a warning – would be too stupid to get into the force."

"You'd hope," Christian added as he shut his door. "Find anything incriminating?" he asked, drawing out the last word like a kid who was reading it for the first time.

"Nah, just some smelly socks in yours, Christian," Lawson said, tapping his nose. He wrinkled said nose as Christian threw one of the socks at him. He was fine with stinky socks - truly - but only if they were his own. Even Shannon's were barely tolerated. But, as she'd pointed out more than once, hers were fresh daisies compared to the three-week-old sunbaked tuna sandwich level stench of his and so, if she could handle his socks, he didn't really have a leg to stand on and was going to deal with hers.

But she was his girlfriend; Christian was not. Lawson tossed the sock back.

"Bet you had fun digging through my knickers, Charlie," Stella said, dropping her shoes on the ground and directing a cheeky grin at him.

"Didn't know you wore any, Stella."

"Wouldn't you _like_ to know, though," she said with exaggerated wink. Lawson squinted at her - he really didn't need that image. "So who's next?" Stella asked, as she turned back to her own locker and pulled out a pair of black socks.

"Shannon," Charlie replied, as he eyed the locker in question.

Lawson shifted his attention to the locker as Charlie opened it, but he spoke to the other two. Time for answers. "So why _are_ you here so early?"

"Stella dared me to a race," Christian started as he kicked off his street shoes and sat down. He began pulling on his left jogger. "Bet me twenty bucks I couldn't beat her."

Lawson looked at Stella, who merely wriggled her shoulders and grinned in response. He huffed a laugh and glanced back at Christian. "Weren't you the one saying Michael was an idjit for competing with a girl?"

There was a short pause at the name, before Christian jumped in with his jogger-clad left foot now metaphorically in his mouth. "She's not a girl; she's _Stella_."

Stella turned and frowned at him. "Sometimes I don't know whether to hug you or hit you, Christian." She returned her gaze to Charlie who was now staring deep into Shannon's locker. "So, Charlie. Anything saucy in there? Naked pictures of Lawson, maybe?"

Naked pics of- Hang on. "Oi, watch it, Stell," Lawson said, glaring at her.

"No. You're all really boring people," Charlie interrupted dryly. Stella and Lawson both blinked at the joke. Charlie straightened up. "Ooh, hang on," he said as he reached into the back of the locker.

"What is it?" Stella asked as she raised herself up onto her tippy toes. Lawson quirked an eyebrow at her, eyeing her up and down. She was on the other side of the room, at a right angle to Shannon's locker; tippy toes would do nothing to improve that view. She just pulled a face back at him.

Charlie spun around, brandishing a little pink bag at them.

"Really, Charlie?" Lawson asked with a sigh. He was going to get curious over _that_?

"What? It's not her shampoo – that's the other bag."

Just how long had it been since Charlie'd had a girlfriend? "It's really not obvious what that is to you?"

"Ooh, is it her porn stash, Lawson?" Stella asked.

Lawson shook his head and sighed again. "Bloody kids, the lot of ya. Stell, you telling me you don't have one of these?" he asked, waving his hand at the bag.

Stella glanced back at the bag, frowning, before realisation quickly flooded her face. She sat down on a chair with a grin and started pulling on her socks. Lawson nodded, satisfied that at least one member of his team wouldn't have to be sent back to Year Six. Christian watched her, then glanced at Lawson, before returning his gaze to the bag. His eyes widened. "Oh!"

"What?" Charlie asked.

"It's her period stash."

Even better: there were two members of his team who had managed to avoid repeating sex ed.

Charlie looked askance at the bag, as though it were a baby about to poo on him. "And how do you know that?" he asked, frowning at the bag and Lawson.

"Annie has one too," Christian shrugged.

"Wasn't asking you, Christian."

Lawson scratched his head in disbelief at the question. He'd thought Charlie had figured it out months ago. Y'know, when he'd told them to stop. "She's my girlfriend. You've never had to buy tampons for your girlfriend?"

Charlie, apparently ignoring the present tense of the girlfriend statement, didn't respond; he just continued staring at the bag.

Stella laughed at him. "Aww, Charlie, you can buy tampons for me if you like," she said as she bent over, tucking the ends of her shoelaces into her joggers.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Sure, Stella, but you'll have to buy me dinner first."

Lawson smirked, but his attention was drawn to Christian when he looked up from his shoes and started frowning as something seemed to cross his mind. "Hey, Stell, so how does that work when you've got a girlfriend? Do you buy stashes for each other?"

Stella shook her head. "Nah, I'm not picky with brands – we just end up sharing. End up having to buy a shitload though cos the timing always works out the same. Fight club every month."

"Ouch," Christian said, nose wrinkling. Lawson had to agree.

So did Stella. "Yep."

Charlie hummed to himself as he stared at the bag. "So, Stella's not picky. But is Shannon?"

Lawson stopped smirking at the other two and stared at him. "What?" The hell sort of question was that.

"What brand does Shannon use?" Charlie asked, his hand hovering over the zipper.

Lawson just looked at him, eyebrows raised. He couldn't be- "Seriously?"

"Twenty bucks."

"Twenty bucks says Lawson's wrong," Stella whispered to Christian. It was one of the worst whispers ever attempted because Lawson certainly heard it loud and clear. He threw a glare at her. She just grinned back.

"Aww, I'll support you, Boss-man," Christian said at normal volume. "You're on, Stell." They shook on it.

"So?" Charlie asked, smirking back at Lawson.

Lawson sighed as he glanced at all three of them. They were betting over his girlfriend's tampons. They were betting over his girlfriend's _tampons_. Was this what life had come to? "Really, Charlie, thought there was too much of a stick up your arse for this."

Charlie waited. Christian drummed with invisible drumsticks. Stella had her hands clasped behind her head like she was relaxing at the beach.

Lawson could have shot them all. "You shits. It's Kotex. She uses Kotex."

Charlie nodded. "Let's see then." He put the bag back in the locker briefly, then stretched his arms out and cracked his fingers – grinning all the while - before picking up the bag and slowly, _dramatically_ pulling back the zip and peering inside. Lawson sidled up to him and looked in the bag too.

He felt his heart stop dead.

"Well?" Stella asked after a few moments, watching them with eyes wide open, an expectant grin on her face.

"Not a tampon stash," Charlie pronounced abruptly, quickly zipping the bag up again. Lawson held very still, willing his body to give nothing away.

"Aww," Christian pouted.

"Eh, no worries," Stella said, nudging him, "we'll just ask her later. Now, c'mon, we racing or what?" And with that, she stood up and dashed out the door. Christian hopped after her, rapidly trying to tie his neglected right shoelace.

"Hey, no fair!"

Charlie and Lawson tensely watched them go, waiting till they were out of hearing range. Once he was certain they were gone, Lawson hurriedly turned back to Charlie and the bag. "Open it," he ordered.

Charlie did so quickly and they both stared silently into the bag. It wasn't overly large, and it held a few items with some room to spare. The most prominent were a couple of clear plastic containers. One seemed to hold a collection of nail clippings; another had a couple of small wooden sticks coated in dried blood and skin scrapings. The third held a couple of pieces of short wiry hair.

"Is it just me," Charlie started, "or does this look kinda like a-"

"Yeah," Lawson said roughly through the lump in his throat. He didn't want to hear the words; he couldn't hear those words, not in relation to- But then, he couldn't deny it either. He dug into the bag with his right hand and – and his hands were _not _bloody shaking, thank you – he pulled out a USB drive. "Yeah, it does."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Cheers for all the lovely lovely reviews, guys. They have definitely helped give me a kick up the bum to keep going, and revved the typing. I really do appreciate them.

* * *

><p>Leon Broznic was a man of many words and more talents, one of which was unfortunately that of spilling energy drinks on keyboards.<p>

"Shit," he said, hitting the enter key twice. The cursor blinked back at him, position unchanged. "Shit, shit, shit," he muttered again, punctuating each word with another punch of the key. He jumped up from his desk, nudging his chair back, before striding down the hallway to the supply room.

"Please be one here, please be one here," he mumbled to himself as he checked the shelves. Top, no. Middle, no. Shit, the bottom, really? No. He got on to all fours and checked under the shelves, smiling widely as he pulled the lone last one out from underneath. He grabbed it tightly in his hands, before rushing out of the room and down the corridor past Kerry.

"Hey, Leon," Kerry called, as she watched him dash back down the hall. "You haven't broken another keyboard, have you?"

Leon stopped suddenly and turned back, grinning nervously at her. "Of course not, Kerry. Why would you think a thing like that?"

She raised an eyebrow at the brand new box tucked under his arm. He glanced at it, giggling awkwardly and briefly back at her, before stopping and quickly turning to walk back down the hall. "I'm making a call," she called after him. "Briefing in twenty-five."

He saluted back at her, before hurrying back to his desk and ducking underneath it to dig through the cords. After a moment, he stood back up, plopped into his chair and hit the enter key again, this time on the shiny new keyboard.

The cursor moved down the screen.

Raising his arms in celebration, Leon leant back in his chair. "Victory is mine, once again!" he announced and spun around in his chair.

He had only made it one and a half times when he came face to face with two Senior Sergeants staring seriously at him. He stopped spinning. "Charlie, Lawson, can I help you?" he asked brightly, straightening up.

"Leon, is there a computer we can stick this thing into?" Charlie asked, gesturing at the USB Lawson was holding up.

"Yeah, yeah." He spun around and waved his hands at the main computer he used. "Actually, we can just pop it into this one and it'll show up on the main scree-"

"Nah, smaller one." Lawson said shortly. He glanced at the USB and then to Leon, crossing his arms. There wasn't a hint of a smile in his tone.

"Okay," Leon said, warily looking back and glancing between them. That was a little odd. He hopped up. "Yeah. Yeah, just…" he led them over to a corner where a computer was sleeping. "Yeah, this one should work. Do you want me to-"

"No," Lawson interrupted. "Now piss off."

"I- what?" Leon blinked. The fuck was wrong with Lawson?

Charlie raised his eyebrows and stared pointedly at Lawson before looking back at Leon. "Please, Leon," he added softly.

Leon pursed his lips. This was his kingdom but- "Yeah, okay," he said as he stepped backwards. "But only because you asked nicely, Charlie. I'll just… go get some water." He looked at Lawson, frowning, before walking out of the room.

Lawson watched him go. "I'm gonna pay for that later."

Charlie looked at him. "Yeah, you are," he said, shaking his head as he sat down and tapped the keyboard. He got it – Lawson was worried; Charlie was too. But the man could've at least tried to avoid splashing the shit everywhere. He took the USB from Lawson and plugged it in as the computer took a minute to load. Lawson hovered impatiently behind him. "Watch it, Lawson, you'll give yourself a hernia."

Lawson stopped his pacing. "Yeah, Charlie? You're all Mr Serious and you reckon now's the time for jokes?"

Charlie just looked at him. They couldn't have this – whatever it was – affecting everything today. Lawson was a Senior Sergeant; he should've known this.

Lawson sighed and rubbed his face. "Yeah, yeah, okay." He glanced at the screen. "It's up. Can you-"

Charlie nodded and double-clicked on the My Computer icon, navigating to the USB drive. Slowly picture thumbnails filled the screen and he clicked randomly on one. A sharp view of a bruised back expanded on the screen. Charlie's eyes widened.

"Holy shit," Charlie whispered as he clicked another picture. This one was blurrier than the previous, but still the image was clear enough to make out: Shannon, clad only in her underwear, bruises marring her shoulders and chest. He sat back against the chair and swallowed hard, feeling like someone had just taken a swing at him. As much as he was the outsider still, that was one of his people, and if he felt like this, then Lawson-

Lawson stiffened behind him. "Shut it off."

"Lawson-"

"Shut it off!" he growled. Without waiting, he reached down and yanked the USB out of the hard drive. He then stood straight and still, eyes boring into the wall and fists clenching at his sides, as though he were trying to crush all the pictures on the USB in his right hand and any events that had led to them.

Charlie cleared the cache and shut the computer down, staring at the blank screen. He frowned, trying to focus his thoughts, but he could only conclude one thing. After a moment, he spoke. "We need to talk to Kerry."

Lawson shook his head. "I need to talk to Shannon."

"Lawson, we need to show these to Kerry."

"Not until I've spoken to her," Lawson said, slamming his hand on the desk beside him. He breathed for a moment before adding, "We don't even know what _this_ is."

Charlie turned his head to stare at the fist for a second. Lawson couldn't really think that – it was bloody obvious what _this_ was. Slowly he stood, pushing the chair in, and calmly faced Lawson. "You don't believe that."

"_We don't know_."

Charlie didn't blink. "Lawson, I think you know that we do." He sighed, trying to decide the best way to tackle this. Logic was generally the go, he figured. "Look, I understand she was assaulted once. By a taxi driver; it led to an arrest in another case. She didn't tell you straight off, but in general, how did she react?"

"How do you even-"

Different tack. "When do you think this happened, Lawson?" he asked quietly, though he reckoned the answer was obvious.

Lawson frowned at him in confusion, before his face relaxed and his eyes saddened. "Lexie," he said, crossing his arms.

Charlie nodded. "Lexie. Think about her reaction. We couldn't get in touch with her that night; she flinched when I touched her-"

"She flinched when _I_ touched her," Lawson murmured softly, suddenly casting his eyes downward.

Charlie didn't acknowledge the comment; he wasn't sure Lawson meant to say it out loud. "And she went off the rails for a bit. Don't tell me we don't know what this is."

Lawson closed his eyes, and nodded slowly.

"Now, I doubt she told anyone, not even Kerry, because we wouldn't have found these if she had. But when she finds out you know – when she finds out _we_ know, how much shit will she be in if it all hits the fan again and _Kerry_ doesn't know?"

"She'll go nuts," Lawson murmured, briefly rubbing his right hand against his mouth.

"Kerry?"

"Shannon."

"Maybe. But this way we can coast the fallout. And if anything needs to happen, Kerry has connections."

"Don't you have connections?" Lawson asked, gazing at him. For a moment, Charlie was nearly bowled over by the force of the emotion in his eyes. It wasn't hope; it was far too desolate for that. Maybe desperation.

It was desperation that Charlie couldn't assuage. "Not for this sort of thing," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't like it." Lawson shook his head and stared back over Charlie's shoulder at the wall. His hands clenched tighter and he swallowed, and suddenly Charlie knew what it was that was bothering him.

"Lawson," Charlie started, hoping that he wouldn't take this as being patronising. Charlie understood it, he did, and in the same situation, he'd be right there too. "If she asks, you can stick it on me. I outrank you; it's my call."

Lawson kept staring at the wall, shifting only slightly.

Movement in the hall caught Charlie's eye. Time to go. "Speak of the devil. Kerry," he called to her, nodding at Lawson before turning and striding across the room. She paused and waited for him, her ever present impatient air increasing as her hands moved to rest on her hips. "We need to talk," he added seriously and quietly once he reached her.

Kerry sighed. "Okay," she said, eyeing him up and down.

"Not here," Charlie shook his head. He braced a hand behind her back, hovering lightly but not touching, and nodded towards her ill-frequently used office. They started walking and he glanced back to Lawson.

"Shit," Lawson said, brushing his hands over his head, and quickly followed.

* * *

><p>Shortly after eleven, an hour and a half after a delicious – though still slightly strained – breakfast of omelette, mushrooms, tomato and toast with Josh, Shannon strolled into the ops room. Leon was staring studiously at the main screen; a freshly-showered Stella was perched on the desk behind him, Christian next to her in a rolly chair.<p>

"Morning," she called as she entered, taking a quick drink from her water bottle and heading towards Stella and Christian. They both called back their greetings and Shannon slowed as she reached them, frowning at Leon. "Morning, Leon," she repeated pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah, morning," he muttered briefly back.

Still frowning, she turned back to Stella and Christian. "What's up his arse?" she asked, folding her arms tightly.

"Dunno," Christian said. "Seems a bit tense."

"He's not the only one," Stella added, raising her eyebrows at Shannon. "You all right? You look tense too."

Shannon looked sharply at her, slight taken aback. She hadn't realised she'd let the morning's effect on her show through her body - or that it was that obvious. She determinedly relaxed her stance, dropping her hands to her sides. "Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just… an eventful morning." She glanced quickly at the screen, hoping to find something to change the subject. "What've we got today?"

Stella nodded doubtfully at her, but let it go. "An eventful day. Some drug squad take-down thing – we're still waiting on them to get here." She tilted her head at Shannon. "Y'know, I thought you'd be here earlier; you missed my resounding defeat of Christ-boy here in a running race."

"You cheated!" Christian said, sighing exasperatedly as he threw up his hands. Shannon bit back a smile – she wouldn't be surprised in the least to find out that Stella _had_ cheated. But proving it? That was always the difficult part and a challenge, she expected, Christian would not succeed at.

"So did not," Stella replied airily. She eyed Shannon, a smirk slowly spreading across her face. "So, where _have_ you been?" she asked cockily as she leant back in the chair, bringing her own bottle of water up to take a drink.

Shannon shook her head and grinned. She waited a sec: there was no way she'd get out of answering, but at least she could get a decent reaction. She spoke just as Stella took a swig. "Josh was buying me breakfast."

"Ah- _what_?" Stella choked on the water. Christian kindly thumped her on the back – possibly a little harder than required, Shannon noted. She couldn't blame him. Stella pushed his hands away.

Shannon rolled her eyes. "He showed up drunk on my doorstep at too bloody early o'clock this morning, so I made him buy me brekky."

Stella nodded understandingly. "Ah, still a bit emo 'bout the whole-"

"Yeah."

Christian glanced between the two of them, forehead creased. "About the whole what?"

"Yeah, so if I'm tired and grumpy at you, it's his fault," Shannon continued unabated.

"About the what?" Christian repeated.

They both ignored him. There were some things that were just not to be shared. And if Shannon were honest, there was a part of her that was still a little annoyed that Josh had told Stella in the first place. On the one hand, fair enough, she was his friend too – and Shannon knew she probably would've told Stella eventually, anyway - but still, she would've loved to have been given an input on whether anyone was going to know. Or at least been given a heads up that someone else had known before Stella had brought it up in the locker room one arvo.

Too late now.

"Okay, so we're not telling Christian," Christian said, shrugging at them both. "That's fine. I mean, it's not like I'm an excellent, valued member of the team or anything; in fine physical non-cheating form, I might add," he said, leaning towards Stella and staring intensely at the side of her head. She swatted at him and he shifted back. "It's all good. So, Shannon," he added lightly, turning to her, "what tampons do you use?"

Now it was her turn to choke on her water. "_What_?"

"What tampons do you use?"

She stared at him, schooling her face blank, and deadpanned, "Why? Do you need some advice, Christian?"

"No, I just… want to know…" He frowned at his boots. "That sounded creepier than I meant."

Shannon blinked at him for a moment before turning to Stella. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Stella, why does Christian want to know what tampons I use?"

Stella shrugged, and looked primly at her. Jesus, she'd had to have practiced that – a gram of butter wouldn't melt in that mouth. "Concern? We _were_ discussing reproductive health earlier." She placed her arms behind her on the desk and leant back. "So what _do_ you use?"

Shannon just stared at the two of them, wondering just when they'd regressed to high school. They stared back innocently and she sighed, knowing there was only one way to get an answer. "Fine. I use Cottons."

Stella broke out into a huge grin and sat forward, swinging her hand out to Christian in one smooth motion. "Pay up, big boy."

Shannon could only watch as Christian slowly pulled out a twenty dollar note from his wallet and slapped it into Stella's palm.

She gaped. They… _what. _No way. No bloody way."_Seriously_? You were betting over what _tampons_ I use?"

Stella laughed. "No. I was betting Lawson wouldn't know what tampons you use." Oh, yes, because that made things better.

"I know Annie's," Christian moped, balefully staring as his twenty dollar note disappeared into Stella's wallet. "I thought for sure he'd know yours."

"You've been together nine years, Christian. If you didn't know Annie's by now, I'm pretty sure it'd be grounds for divorce." Stella turned to Shannon. "So what do you do?"

Shannon squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly feeling like she was on a merry-go-round of questions, only they kept changing direction and she didn't know when she was going to be able to get off. "What do _I_ do?"

"Lawson said he's bought them for you. I'm guessing so you have a stash at his place?"

"Yeah…" Shannon said slowly, making sure that the _What the hell?_ she was feeling came through clearly in her tone.

"So what do you do if it's wrong?"

Sense at last! Shannon chewed her lip thoughtfully. Okay, she could share this. She leant against the desk next to Stella. "I switch them out when he's not looking," she admitted, a small grin breaking free.

Stella and Christian glanced at each other for a long moment, then cracked up. Leon looked over and blinked at them, utterly confused. Shannon waved at him and he frowned in return, before returning his focus to the screen.

"I've got a slowly growing pile of Kotex tampons," she added, nose wrinkling. She paused for a second. Hang on, maybe she could donate them. "Annie doesn't use them, does she, Christian?"

He shook his head. "Nah, she's a Libra girl through and through."

"Hey, what about me?" Stella asked, slightly indignant.

Shannon squinted at her. "You had Carefree the last time I had to borrow," she said, shrugging.

"Yeah, but I'll use anything." Stella spread her hands out for emphasis, nearly knocking Christian in the head. He slapped the offending hand away.

Well, in that case… "All right, I'll bring them in then," Shannon said with a satisfied nod.

Christian started laughing quietly again. Shannon looked at him, brushing her hand through her hair as she watched. What was it _now_?

"What?" Stella asked.

"You're going to have a lifetime's supply of tampons, bought by Lawson."

Stella started giggling too. "Maybe I can give some to Charlie."

"He'll have to buy you dinner first!" Like sugar into tea, the two of them dissolved into laughter.

Shannon tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and just returned to staring at them in confusion. Just what were they on? She shook her head and sighed impatiently, glancing at her watch while she waited for them to finish. She raised her head as footsteps echoed down the hall towards them and glanced over to find the man under discussion headed their way.

And wanting to speak to her apparently. "Shannon!" Charlie called as he strode through the room.

She pushed off the desk with her hip and met him halfway. "What's up?" she asked, forehead furrowing slightly.

"Kerry wants to see you. In her office," he added. He smiled at her, clapping her briefly on the shoulder as he passed. Shannon froze – he was tactile by nature, but coupled with the smile, that was just plain weird – as she watched him head over to Stella and Christian, both of whom attempted to smother their grins as he approached, but only managed to giggle harder.

She shook her head and turned back around, heading to Kerry's office. She stopped suddenly just outside the door, feeling slightly dizzy, a small pool of dread forming in her stomach. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment to settle her head, then opened them and straightened her shoulders, steadying herself. It was fine; she was imagining things - Charlie was just being Charlie. She knocked briefly, then entered, shutting the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** Next chapter may be a bit longer than a week as this is up earlier than planned – you're all so lovely, I couldn't hold out *g* _–_ and assignments are about to destroy me. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

><p>Kerry Vincent was a woman who had risen through the ranks with her forthright attitude firmly in place, never learning to mince her words. But right now, sitting behind her desk, her eyes flicking between her two officers – Lawson leaning against the wall to her right, Shannon just in front of the doorway – she had no idea how to start. Turned out she didn't have to.<p>

Shannon had glanced at Lawson when she entered, then at Kerry, before finally catching sight of the little peach bag sitting half-opened in the middle of the desk. Her eyes had locked on it and she'd been staring at it for the last minute. The others shifted uncomfortably and Lawson moved to speak, but Shannon got there first.

"Locker inspection was today, wasn't it." It was a statement, not a question, but Kerry found herself nodding at it anyway. Shannon sighed. "Who showed y- You know what? Doesn't matter."

"Shannon, I'm sorry. If we'd known-"

Shannon held up her hand. "You figured out when."

Kerry nodded again. Shannon was one of the steadiest members in the team – it hadn't been hard by any stretch. In fact, it had started being pretty bloody obvious once Charlie had put the little bag down on the desk and Kerry began wondering why it looked strangely familiar. And then after Lawson had silently handed over the USB and she'd quickly scrolled through the pictures, she'd realised why: she had last seen it sitting in Shannon's lap, her fingers fiddling with it, after she'd trashed the locker room – when Kerry had told her that TR was no place for a lady.

Kerry could have kicked herself when it all fell into place. She'd never been great at giving comforting words, but shit, that was just putting the boot in - even if, at the time, she'd had no idea what Shannon had gone through.

Shannon swallowed as she continued staring at the bag. "What are you going to do?" she asked, finally lifting her gaze to meet Kerry's.

Kerry sighed. "That's what I wanted to speak to you about."

"I think it's pretty obvious what I wanted to do."

Kerry pressed her lips together and lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Except this bag has been sitting in your locker for how many months now?"

Shannon didn't answer, just kept staring at the bag. Lawson kept staring at her.

Kerry locked her hands together in front of her face and rested her chin on them, looking up at Shannon. "We can report it, Shannon. I know people, they'll do it discreetly, and you won't have to worry about it again."

Shannon stared at the bag for a few more moments, steadily ignoring Lawson's gaze, then shook her head. Her voice was husky when she spoke and Kerry frowned, her concern increasing. She'd never heard that tone from Shannon before. "Kerry, you know what happens in cases like this. He said, she said. It gets buried; she gets carted off to some Woop Woop position – literally or not."

Kerry started shaking her head. "No, Shannon, you have evidence; you're a cop. It makes a diff-"

"Means shit all when it's against another-" she cut herself off and closed her eyes.

Kerry stiffened, before straightening up. She didn't mean- "Are you saying a cop did this?" Face creased in horror, she stood up from the desk, brandishing her hand at the jars and the USB. Her tone was incredulous – not because she didn't believe Shannon, but from the momentary dismay that one of their own could do such a thing. But then, Kerry had started out her career in the 80s and she knew that, while many things were different now – she was a superintendant, the police minister was a woman – there was still a whole bloody lot that hadn't changed one damn iota.

"I'm not saying anything."

Kerry moved out from behind the desk and walked slowly towards her. Her hands were held out, plaintively. "Shannon, we can do this. We can get him arrested and charged-"

"And some judge will have him back on the street in hours." Shannon hugged herself – an unusually vulnerable move and Kerry wasn't entirely sure she knew she'd done it – and continued speaking, trying to blink back angry tears._ "I_ took the evidence, Kerry. The chain was broken. They'll claim I waited too long, that I was drunk-"

Oh, Jesus. "Oh, Shannon, that's all bullshit. Those pictures show the bruising and we all know the real psych behind it these days-"

"-that it was my own fault. That I'm a bloody cop – who's trained in _tactical response_ – and still I couldn't fight him off, so clearly, I must have wanted it. He'll get off and nothing will have changed except _everyone_ will know and all they'll ever think is 'Poor Shannon, didja hear what happened to her?'" She stepped back, shaking her head. "No. That's not gonna happen."

Kerry glanced over at Lawson, at a loss of what to do. He was concentrating solely on Shannon and Kerry could tell it was taking every inch of willpower to stop himself from striding over to her and just… holding her, she guessed. But he could tell as well as Kerry that Shannon had withdrawn into herself and it was the last thing she could deal with at the moment.

"Besides," Shannon added, roughly straightening her uniform sleeves, "I got my own back. What happened happened and bloody hell, I was nearly over it."

There was a sharp knock at the door and Kerry sighed, glancing between it and Shannon. "Yeah, what?" she called.

Leon opened the door and poked his head in, glancing at the three of them. Shannon had spun around at the knock and now gazed red-eyed but steadily at the wall, keeping her back to him. He looked back at Kerry. "Uh, drug squad's here. They'll be ready in five."

"Okay," Kerry said as Leon kept looking at them. Lawson ignored him, still focused on Shannon, and Leon frowned at him. "We'll be there in a sec, Leon," she added, placing her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows at him.

Leon looked back at her. "Oh. Right. Okay, see you soon." He grinned at her, in that slightly embarrassed way of his, then ducked out the door, closing it firmly behind him.

Kerry turned back to Shannon. "Shannon-"

"We have a briefing?" Shannon asked, eyes still watching the wall, the rest of her body still.

"Yeah."

"You better get ready then." Her tone was matter-of-fact and would clearly brook no further argument.

Which to be fair was her decision. There was no mandated reporting with adults. In fact, with sexual assault against a cognisant adult, there was no reporting at all unless it was by the victim – and oh, Kerry was never going to use that word in front of Shannon; she'd probably pull a Josh and try to take her head off. Once a report was made, then Kerry could legally have some sway, but until then… She sighed again, glancing briefly at the floor. "Do you need some time-"

"I'll be ready when the briefing starts."

"Yeah, okay." Kerry laid a hand on Shannon's shoulder, who tensed even further under her touch – a reaction Kerry hadn't thought physically possible at this point. "We'll talk later, yeah?"

"If you say so," Shannon replied sharply.

Kerry shook her head and threw a sad glance at Lawson, before removing her hand from Shannon's shoulder and quietly leaving the room, shutting the door on her way. She paused outside for a moment, staring at the door and wondering just what the hell to do. Put her on leave, maybe just order more counselling? Then she shook her head and turned around – she'd have to deal with it later.

Leon hadn't gone very far down the hall and he stood and waited till she met him on her way to the ops room. "Everything all right?" he asked, the concern plain to see on his frowning face.

Kerry took a quick breath in, paused, then shrugged, letting the air out slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, it's fine, Leon."

Leon glanced rapidly between her and the door. "Really? 'Cause that didn't look f-"

Kerry shook her head, interrupting him. "Let's get this briefing going, hey?" she said, clapping him solidly on the back, and continuing past him. There was a short pause, and then his footsteps followed behind.

* * *

><p>After Kerry left, Shannon and Lawson were silent for a few minutes, Shannon calmly wiping away the few tears that had escaped. She knew he was behind her, staring at her, but she couldn't turn around. She just couldn't physically do it. Her hands moved to grip her pants and her nails dug into her thighs and it wasn't until her skin cried out in pain that she realised she was pissed off. There might have been something else in there too, but she refused to delve any further – pissed off would work for the moment.<p>

For Christ's sake, why had they brought this up now? There was a full bloody day of work ahead and just… god, why hadn't Lawson come to her first. If they'd found it in her locker, why hadn't he just come to speak to her first?

He sighed and it was the only noise in the room until his muffled footsteps headed towards her. She could hear him coming closer, feel the pity, feel the _why?,_ and she just snapped.

"What, you got something to say too?" she spat, spinning around. She glared at him, crossing her arms, clutching her shirt with the hand hidden from his view to ground her. "You got something else to make me feel guilty for not reporting my own rape?"

She didn't think she'd have to deal with it from him too. But then he was Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake to the core, not just as a career, and that had been half the problem in the first place, hadn't it. He'd have wanted her to report it – or he'd have gone after _him_ – and her head just hadn't been ready for that. And her heart wouldn't have been ready for anything else to be thrown at it, good or bad.

Lawson stilled briefly at her words, before continuing towards her, shaking his head, his hands held out in the manner that she recognised from their negotiation training: palms up, relaxed. It was the mantra: watch your body posture, be non-threatening. Keep the subject calm at all times. "No. No, I… don't know what I can say, Shan." He reached towards her left hand with his own.

She wasn't having any of it. She stepped back, out of his grasp. Jutting her jaw out, she nodded once. "Yeah, well, you've already said enough, haven't you?" Confusion briefly crossed his face, but she ignored it, pushing forward until they were less than a foot apart. Her back straight, she snarled up at him. "So did you tell her, Lawson? Was it your idea to spread my business in front of our boss?"

"Shan…" he started, but then nothing followed. He closed his eyes briefly.

The anger slipped off her face and morphed into a mass of horror sinking into her stomach. He had. Jesus, he had. He'd told Kerry. He'd gone straight past her and given everything that she'd never wanted anyone to know or see to Kerry. Her breakfast threatened to reappear and she swallowed heavily. "Great. Just great. Get out."

"Shan…" He brushed a hand over his head and gazed at her with downcast eyes.

She shook her head and turned back to the wall. "No. Piss off. We have to work and I can't deal with this at the moment. Get the fuck out."

He sighed again, the air brushing her neck as he moved past her, reaching for the door handle. But then, as she watched him in her peripherals, he paused and quickly turned back. She closed her eyes as he pressed a lingering kiss into her hair, before stepping back and walking out the door.

Just when she'd gotten it under control. Shannon could feel the tears forming again and she gulped back a sob. Anger, she had to hold onto the anger – they had shit to do and she could not let this affect her. Being angry would get her through the day. She took a deep breath, choosing to let it out slowly. She shut her eyes for a moment, wiped her face one more time, then turned and followed him out.


End file.
